This invention relates to a motor vehicle body, and in particular arrangements of body reinforcing members.
German Patent DE 39 05 650 has already disclosed a motor vehicle having a self-supporting body, whereby reinforcing struts arranged in a V pattern are provided on the underside of the floor to reinforce the body, converging in the direction of the rear end and the front end of a vehicle. Due to the V-shaped arrangement of the reinforcing struts on the floor pan of the body, the torsion amplitudes on the body are reduced due to the increased torsional rigidity of the body.
European Patent EP 603 536 B1 discloses another motor vehicle with which a first V-shaped reinforcing strut runs in a horizontal plane on the floor pan. A second V-shaped reinforcing strut is arranged in a vertical transverse plane. The first V-shaped reinforcing strut is connected directly to the second V-shaped reinforcing strut at the converging ends of the reinforcing strut in the area of the rear end. The free ends of the two V-shaped reinforcing struts are attached to chassis beam members which run beneath the passenger compartment as well as beneath the rear end. The reinforcing struts also serve to increase the torsional rigidity of the body.
The object of this invention is to create a motor vehicle having a body with a high rigidity.
This object is achieved through the features of the present invention, wherein the rear end-area ends of rear reinforcing struts are mounted on a connecting area on the bottom of the vehicle rear end, the ends of two other rear end-area reinforcing struts that run in a V shape also are arranged on the connecting area and the two other reinforcing struts run obliquely toward the rear and obliquely toward the outside in the direction of rear chassis beam members, and with the rear ends of the other reinforcing struts being mounted on the rear chassis beam members.
Due to the inventive reinforcement of the body on the floor pan of the present invention, the torsional rigidity and the flexural rigidity are both increased. The inventive reinforcement can be used to advantage in an open vehicle such as a convertible or a roadster as well as in closed vehicles, in particular station wagons and vehicles without a B pillar.
The inventive reinforcement of two reinforcing struts running in a V shape, attached to the vehicle body at their converging ends, has five points of connection to the vehicle. In an advantageous embodiment, a component suitable for introducing and distributing force is mounted on the bottom of the vehicle body. The inventive reinforcement yields an increase in the torsional rigidity as well as the flexural rigidity of the body by a simple method.
In an advantageous embodiment, the rear chassis beam members on the rear end of the vehicle run at an offset height with respect to the lower outer chassis beam members situated beneath the passenger compartment. The joint connection area of the two reinforcing struts is below the rear chassis beam members. In an advantageous embodiment, the common connecting area is located at the spare tire well or some other lower body part in the rear end. Due to this arrangement, the inventive reinforcement has a three-dimensional X shape. This design has the advantage that a space for arranging components, e.g., the rear axle, is still available in front of the spare tire well and/or the floor in the rear end.
In one embodiment, in addition to the rear X-shaped reinforcement in the rear end of the vehicle, a front vehicle reinforcement is advantageously provided, in which two reinforcing struts run in a V shape in the direction of the front end of the vehicle. The front end of the body is also reinforced due to the additional front reinforcing struts which lie approximately in a horizontal plane.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.